Pyongyang may be preparing
for no less than a space
launch, US officials told
the media, citing recently
obtained satellite imagery
of a site around the Sohae
Satellite Launching Station
– and it may come sooner
than later.

Recent movement of
components and propellant
could indicate that North
Korea is considering a
rocket launch in the near
future, unnamed US
officials told Reuters.

“Our concern though
is that they do a
space-launch, but really
it’s the same technology to
develop ICBMs,” one of
the officials said, adding
that the launch could
happen in a couple of
weeks.
Another official told AFP
news agency that there were
no signs of a ballistic
missile.

“The indications are
that they are preparing for
some kind of launch… Could
be for a satellite or a
space vehicle – there are a
lot of guesses,” the
official said. “North
Korea does this
periodically – they move
things back and forth...
There’s nothing to indicate
it is ballistic-missile
related.”

Concerns that North Korea
may be preparing to launch
another missile were first
voiced by Japan’s Kyodo news
agency on Thursday. The
report, citing an unnamed
Japanese official, said that
the launch may be only a week
away. The conclusion was
based on an analysis of
satellite imagery of North
Korea’s Tongchang-ri missile
test site on its West coast,
where the Sohae Satellite
Launching Station is located.

South Korea’s Yonhap news
agency has reported that
there had been screens
established at key locations,
possibly aimed at countering
spy satellite surveillance.
Automated activity and rail
set-ups have been observed,
the agency said, citing
government sources.

A South Korean Defense
Ministry spokesman refused to
comment on whether there were
any on-going preparation
activities, but pointed out
that North Korea had
previously give a heads-up
before launching long-range
rockets and warnings about
its navigation activity.

“We believe that North
Korea could launch grave
provocations by surprise –
without pre-warning – from
now on,” South Korean
defense ministry spokesman
Kim Min-seok said. “In
the past, North Korea always
fired a long-range missile
ahead of a nuclear test. But
since it didn’t this time, we
are concerned that it could
launch one.”

North Korea says that it
is entitled to manage its own
space program and its rocket
launches are intended to send
satellites into space.

US Navy Admiral Harry
Harris, commander of US
Pacific Command, said earlier
that he might be looking into
changing a US Aegis missile
defense test site in Hawaii
into a combat-ready facility
so that the US could better
protect it from ballistic
missile attacks. Harris also
suggested that a mobile
missile system known as the
Terminal High Altitude Area
Defense should be introduced
in South Korea, emphasizing
that the proposal should be
discussed between the two
countries.

The last space launch by
North Korea took place in
2012, when, according to its
state-run news agency, DPRK,
the Kwangmyongsong-3 weather
satellite was put into orbit.
However, the West suspects
that this was a veiled
ballistic missile test.

Meanwhile, on Thursday,
the US Senate Foreign
Relations Committee approved
legislation that would impose
stricter sanctions on North
Korea in response to its
fourth nuclear test, which
took place in early January.
An independent investigation
is still working to confirm
whether it was, indeed, a
hydrogen bomb that had been
tested, as Pyongyang claimed.
However, it has been
confirmed across the world
that a powerful test launch
of some sort took place.